Electronic devices, such as smartphones, tablets, and other electronics, are often used with applications (“apps”) or operating systems that provide automated features to the user based on a location of the electronic device or an activity that a user of the electronic device is currently performing. The locations or activities may be categorized as “device modes.” As one example, a user located in their home may wish to be notified by a loud ringtone when a call is received, while automatically silencing the ringtone when the user is located at their place of work. As another example, the user may wish to be notified by the loud ringtone when they are currently in a vehicle or on public transportation.
The smartphone may determine its location via the Global Positioning System (GPS) and provide the automated features based on the location or speed of the electronic device. For example, a location on or near a highway or at a high rate of speed may indicate that the electronic device is in a vehicle. However, the smartphone typically increases its power consumption in order to use the GPS feature. This increased power consumption reduces the smartphone's battery life more quickly. The smartphone may also determine its location by scanning for wireless access point IDs for WiFi networks and performing a lookup on each wireless access point ID for known associated locations. A speed may then be determined based on time taken to travel the distance between WiFi networks. However, frequent scanning and performing the lookup also typically increase the smartphone's power consumption and reduces the battery life more quickly.
Some smartphones provide a “vehicle mode” as an ability to identify that the user is traveling at vehicle speeds or in a vehicle in order to provide automated features to the user. The vehicle mode may not distinguish between a driver or passenger in the vehicle or between public transportation and private vehicles. The vehicle mode may be detected using accelerometer data. This accelerometer-based approach may reduce the power consumption as compared to the GPS or WiFi-based approaches. However, vehicle mode detection using accelerometer data may be inconsistent in detecting a vehicle in motion. For example, the vehicle motion is not generally detectable at stop lights because the vehicle (and thus the smartphone) may be stopped for a period of time. The accelerometer-based approach may generate false negatives, suggesting that the user has exited the vehicle, when in fact the user is still in the vehicle and simply at a stop light.
As another example of accelerometer-based inconsistencies, accelerometer data associated with vehicle motion may be similar to a walking motion. Therefore, the accelerometer-based approach is also a source of false positives, which occur when the vehicle mode is detected while the user is not in a vehicle. False positives and false negatives associated with vehicle mode may cause certain behavior of the smartphone, such as announcing incoming calls, text, or playing music at undesirable times. For example, the user could be sitting in a business meeting when the smartphone incorrectly detects the vehicle mode, causing vehicle-related features to be activated, possibly embarrassing the user and causing them to turn off the feature entirely.